traveling Phoenix-style

It's no secret that I didn't love everything about my job. But, one thing they do well is plan very fun trips for the staff every year. This year we went to an area with beautiful mountains, streams, gorges, caves, and trees. It was nice to be out of the city and surrounded by green! The first day we arrived at the destination in late afternoon and stoped first at a site that has nine waterfalls. We then went back to the hotel for dinner, a performance (that I decided not to go to then later regretted because everyone said it was great), and sleeping. Day Two we went to a famous mountain gorge and hiked around for the whole morning. After lunch we went river rafting. I left out "white-water" on purpose. It was actually more like river floating, but still very enjoyable. After dinner there was a bonfire party. It didn't go so well so my friends and I left early. The next morning we hiked through some pretty impressive caves before making our way home. Here are the pictures:

An added bonus was getting to spend 2 1/2 days with my coworkers, outside of work and having a blast. We were 2 of the very few staff who were willing to pay 70 RMB for the cable car to take us up to the top of the mountain. I was feeling lazy, but the view going up and coming down was well worth 70 kuai and I was glad I wasn't tired and sweaty from the hike. view from the cable car I admit I was being lazy, but look, it would have been quite a hike. view from the topmore scenery

one of the nine waterfalls...I realize it's not that impressive. The high season for the water had already passed, but it was still fun to enjoy nature.

Oh, the English. Such a reminder that my Chinese sounds like this all too often.

early September trip to EGB

classic scenery of the province

camel riding

another go at the sled

This area has been developed by Japanese investors doing all sorts of de-desertification projects. I think this particular vineyard was planted by locals, but the others we saw were planted by the foreigners. The grapes were tasty!

I'm not sure if these birds are ostriches or emus. Either way, there's an exotic bird refuge that has all kinds of crazy birds, including these guys.

top picture in 1990, bottom picture in 2004 after the foreign investment

Everyone who comes to plant a tree in the area gets to engrave their name on a rock on this wall. Both sides are almost completely covered already. That's a lot of people...and a lot of trees.

guess who I am

a slight change of plans

I will be arriving home on September 24th. I now have a ticket home and a visa that doesn't expire a day before my ticket. So, 9-24-07 it is. I still don't know how long I will stay in CT before going to OK, but will keep you advised.

I spent the past few days with a friend in a small town a few hours out of town. Pictures of camel riding and other desert fun will be posted soon. I won't see her again before I go home so the trip was also my first real good-bye. I hate this part of leaving.

pictures from the Nadam festival (other than the fake starfish)

UNEMPLOYED

I am officially finished with my job at the hotel! My last day was Friday. I had a dinner with my coworkers from the Front Office Department. The Human Resources Dept gave me a gift on behalf of the hotel. That's what the picture is. At first I thought it was just a bag, which would have been a good gift. Then I opened it. It's a picnic set. 2 plates, 2 cloth napkins, 2 sets of cutlery, and 2 glasses. I realize this isn't funny or surprising to those of you in America. However, the only people I have ever heard of having a picnic here were other foreigners. And, the set is complete with Western silverware, which is also not easy to come by here. I truly do like the gift, I just thought it was odd for them to find it and give it. I have no idea where one would purchase such a gift here.

The ending of my job at the hotel also means that I am unemployed with no job prospects. I am looking and applying and trust that something will happen in the next month. Let me know if you hear of something.

And to be honest, not having a job has some great advantages. Like not having to be anywhere at any certain time. I am really excited to have this month just to hang out with friends. I'm going back out to a village to visit a friend on Wednesday. (I think I'll take my picnic bag with snacks for the road) I have a friend getting married and another having a baby (today maybe!) and am so thankful that I can be here for both of those events.

I am still having some issues with my visa even after 6 trips to the visa office. The process has made me want to write multiple letters to Hu Jintao but I haven't followed through on that emotional impulse yet.

the view from my kitchen

Between my building and the next building there is a row of sheds. The roof of the sheds is like community property where folks hang there laundry, little girls play hopscotch and jumprope, and this guy raises a chicken. No kidding. I saw that make-shift cage contraption for a while and would see him and his wife putting food through one of the holes, but I never had any idea what it was until the other day. It's a chicken. In a cardboard box cage on the roof of a shed in the middle of the city. Right outside my kitchen window.

Starfish and Nadam Fun

Last weekend I went to a Nadam festival. It's a mix of a sports event (wrestling, archery, horse-racing, etc) the state fair, and the never-ending, always fun game of "stare at the foreigners." These festivals are a tradition among one of the minority groups in the area and happen every summer. This one was open to the public, which meant I too could have entered the women's wrestling contest, but there were some pretty hefty ladies. And, I was doing nothing but standing and already getting stared at as if I were an attraction, so participating would have sent me over the limit as far as the staring goes. My American friend, never having shot a bow before, got 14th place out of 128 archers though, and I think that's pretty good.

I really did have a good time, despite being the first foreigner most of those folks have ever seen. We watched the wrestling, played some games, and watched a performance.

The performance was at the town square. They were also selling these plastic star-shaped things....and telling people they were starfish. They were even kept in water. I suppose if I had lived my entire life in one of the most land-locked places on the planet, I might believe it too. At least they were only charging 2 kuai or something.

The Suburbs

A month or so back I went with my good friend to her uncle's house in the suburbs. Their house is near a famous tourist site that is the tomb of one of China's "Four Beauties." After eatingmy favorite food for dinner we went to the site to hang out for awhile. We took this pic at the top of the hill that overlooks our city. The little witty 13 year old cousin made some comment about us being the four beauties. He was quite a character.